Machine for stitching handkerchiefs or the like.



M. ADAIH.

MACHINE FOR SHTCHING HANDKBRCHIEPS 0R THE LIKE.

APFNUAFION FILED MAR-25, 191184 Patend May 14, 1912.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

lNVhNTOR i fr@ WITNESSES;

M. ADAIR.

MACHINE FOR STITCHING HANDKERCHIEPS 0R THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.25,1908.

1,026,546. Patnnea May 14, 1912.

5 SHEETS'SHEET 2.

(l /r- /L/T'l INYENVQR ffy/lf f'.

WITNESSES;

M. ADAIR. MACHINE FOR STITCHING HANDKERCHIEFS OR THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.25,1908.

1,026,546. y Patented May I4, 1912.

5 SHEBTS-SHEET 3.

INVENTOR WiTNESSlS:

1,026,546, Patented May 14,1912.

5 SHEETS-SHBET 4.

M. ADAIH.

MACHNE FOR STITCHINGHANDKHRCHIEPS OR THF LIKE. APPLICATION FILED mmm ma.

1,026,546. Patented May 14,1912.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

Rxx

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MONTAGUE ADAIR, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.y ASSIGNOR T ADAIR MACHINE COMPANY, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MACHINE FOR STITCHING HANDKERCHIEFS OR THE LIKE.

.Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May7l 14, 1912.

Application filed March 25, 1908. Serial No. 423,143.

To ul'/ 'whom it may concern lie it known that l. B'IoN'rAoUE ADAIR, a fitizen of the United States, and a resident ot' the horough of Brooklyn. in the county of Kings. city and State of New York, have leren d certain new and useful Improvenentr 'n Machines for Stitching Handker- 'ne or the Like. of which the following y a spe-itieation.

This aveutiorr relates to machines for h'mming handkerchiefs or other articles, and alma to provide certain improvements therein. t

ln the making of lmndkerchiefs according to the present methods the fabric is lirst rn or cut the proper size. and each of the 'oor edges thereof is hemmed and in the great majority of cases hemstitched. According to the present` practice a hemstitching str-ring machine is used, each side of the handherehi. t` l'aing separately hemstitched. liv nenni two handkerchief blanks causing one to follow the other alternatively through the n t eine. one operator can keep a single raar-hitte in practicall)v constant operation. hut thisrequires rapid and skilful work on the part oi" the operator.

According' to inv invention. instead of i; into `"eparate hlanks otl if i forni :lic falnit into a tinite length. hut of the width .fr pielltice 'the proper width of chief when hetnst'itched. and simultaa'oaslj.' hem this` strip hv two sewing mawhncs arranged end to end.

d v invention includes in its preferred form means for autotmitically stopping the sewing operation of one such machine when tht` thread of the other machine fails. To gain the fullest advantage of m v invention. however. means aire provided for stopping the sewing operation of hoth machines when a thread of either machine fails.

The hreaking of the spool thread is of quite frequent occurrence, and if one of the hand.v

machines was permitted to remain running lf to rotate out ot engagement with the after the other one had hroken its thread a considerable disadvantage would ensue. B v` stopping hoth machines simultaneously uprn the l'reaking of thread the work not thaarranged or damaged. and the parts w.- in readiness to proceed at once when the machine is rtl-threaded. ltv this invention one operato." can take care of a large nutte her nl' marhines.

largely upon the average number of threads hroken per hour as but little attention is required on the part of the operator except in the case of the breakage of a thread.

M v invention includes such an automatic mechanism and` other improvements which will hereinafter he, referred to.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate an embodiment of the invention. Figure l is an elevation of a duplex hemstitching machine. some of the parts of the lefthand machine heing omitted. Fig. Q is a section on the line QHQ in Fig. 1.. Fig. 3 is an enlarged end elevation of the head of the right-hand machine in Fig. l. showing some of the parts in section. Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the left-hand side of the operating mechanism of Fig. 1, the View heing taken approximately on the line lL-4 in Fig. l. Fig. 5 is a continuation of Fie. l and shows the right-hand side of such mechanism on a smaller scale. Fig. 6 is :1 viewvpart'lv in section showing the hed plate and one form of slack adjusting device on a larger scale. Fig. 't' is an enlarged view of the connecting device between the controlling members of the two machines. Fig. FS is a view similar to' Fig. G showing the preferred form of slack adjusting device. Fig. 9 is a sectional view of the preferred form of winding-up mechanism.

Referring to the, drawings let A A' indicate the tops or headsv of two sewing machines shown as hemstitehing machines. The hemstitching mechanism may he 0f any suitahle t vpe. hut the invention is hest applied in connection with the well-known 'heeler Q 'ilson hemstitch sewing machines. Each machine is driven hv a helt r1 which is connected to a pulley which is normall)Y looseliv mounted upon a .shaft r and which driven h v friction from a stepped pulle v lf'. A\ clutch mechanism is provided for each head. that for the head A\ heing operated hv a helllerank lever (l. which norluall)v tenth to permit the pulley7 inver d. when the lever f' is in its ,vertical or l'ull line position (Fig. ll the arm 'r/ of This tuant-hei" depends` the lever r/ is moved upwardly therelrvv rt ha ving the pulley /w from engagement with the pulley and stopping the machine. At the same time a brake el is thrown into engagement with the pulleys b to insure that the machine stops quickly.

In order to maintain the clutch in its inoperative position, and to tend to throw it to such position, a spring e is provided which is fixed at one end to a stationary part. of the machine, and the other end is connected to an arm e7 secured upon the rock shaft e3. -lVhen the lever e is moved to the dotted line position the arm y of the lever d is pushed downwardl thereby frictionally connecting the pul eys b5 and b and starting the operation of the machine. The arm e is held in its clutched position by a pin l mounted upon a spring-pressed sliding plate or bar k', which bar is adapted to be thrown to the left to release the lever in a manner to be described. The mechanism for operating the clutch of the machine head A is similar to that just described. In this case the operating lever f is mounted upon a rocking shaft f3 which also carries an arm f* connected by a long rod f5 with a lever f'mounted in the frame of the machine. The lever f is'connected by a link f7 to the arm g3 of a three-arm lever da, which operates the clutch of the head A. On the rock shaft f3 to which the lever f is fixed is also mounted an arm f8 connected by a spring f to a fixed part of the machine. Such spring tends to normally maintain the clutch of the machineA in its disengaged osition, and corresponds to the spring te o the clutch for the machine A. The lever f is also adapted to be held in its operative position by a second pin l, mounted upon a second plate lc, and is also adapted to be released by a movement of the plate as will be described.

The invention in its preferred form provides a means for automatically stopping the sewing of the seams of both machines when there is a failure ofthe spool thread in either machine. Preferably the entire machines are stopped. Such failure of the thread may arise from several diiferent causes. The most common of these is the breakage of the thread, but it may arise from the thread being exhausted from the spool or from other causes. In fthe drawings I have shown the mechanism which I prefer to use for this purpose but it will be understood that any other suitable means may be employed for effecting th'e same rcsult. Such means in the present construction are adapted to release thelevers e f so that they may swing to the full line posi tions of Fig. 1, thereby releasing the clutches.

The thread is carried on any suitable. spool such as z' in Fig. l, and is led through the usual guides to the tension device y', Fig. 3. In the usual construction of the machine hv a lightspring the thread passes from the tension member y' to the guide device and then upwardly through the take-up arm l and thence to the needle m.

In the construction shown I provide a controlling device shown as a weight n which is mounted to slide in a guide 0 on the head of the machine, such weight being provided With a hook p which normally engages the thread between the tension member and the guide k. The weight n is tapered at its lower end q and is adapted to throw off the clutch of the machine through intermediate mechanism to be' described. The weight n is normally held in its upper position by the tension upon the thread. During the normal cycle of operations of the machine, however, the tension is removed from the thread by the take-up arm Z so that the weight would lrop and throw otf the machine, if there were not. certain additional mechanism which is designed to engage the weight and hold it during the period when the thread is slack. The means shown for this purpose comprises a lever r pivoted to the head of the machine, the lower end or point of which s is normally held in engagement with the weight bv a spring t. With this means the weight is upheld irrespective of the tension of the thread. Preferably instead of restricting the action of the level' to a period in which the thread is slack. I make such lever act continuously to hold the weight except for a short period during each cycle of operations. For this purpose I extend the upper arm u of the lever to a point where it will be engaged at each upward movement of the take-up arm Z with the effect that the end 8 of the lower arm of the lever is momentarily moved out of engagement with the weight. The result of this construction is that when the thread fails for any reason as by breakage at any point, upon the next upward movement of the arm the lever 7 is moved out of engagement with the weight n. and the latter being no longer supported by the thread falls and actuates the intermediate mechanism which is connected with the clutches and which will now be described.

Mounted upon the machine at the rear ot' the head is a lever g (Figs. 1. At and o) which is pivoted at its` middle to a suitable l.-racket (1.. At the lct`t-hand ond of thi` te ver is mounted a pivotcd arm o' which norVV mally is in contact with the arm t" of the lever, being held vichlingh` in this` position The .trnit .1". in wardlvt'ittheirends.are somewhat `cparatrd (scc Figs. 8 and 1) so that Ihr mini f. et the weight n may enter between them when it drops.y and throw forward the pirotcd ai n o'. from tht` full line position ol' lfig. 4l to the dotted line position in thisl figure. 'l'

force developed by the dropping of the weight is, of course, insufficient to throw off the clutch and I preferably use a moving part of the machine to develop sufficient power to perform this operation. To this end I mount an abutment e on the needle shaft f of the machine, which normally escapes the pivoted arm b' of the lever g' when the latter is in its inactive position; When the arm b is pressed outwardly, however, by the action of the weight n, the arm is moved into position where it is engaged by the abutment e on the needle bar as it moves upwardly. By this means the lever g is tilted around its pivot, throwing the end of the lever downwardly thereby rocking an intermediate lever It (Fig. 1) to which it is connected by a link h2. The lever h. is connected by a chain h3 to a lever h4 (Fig. 2) located under the machine which in turn is connected to a wedge shaped-block i. The wedge sha-pcd block i is located between the ends of the two sliding catch bars k c which carry at their opposite ends the pins Z l which engage the throw off levers ef in their clutched positions. Upon the ascent of the wedge block z" both of the sliding bars lc k are moved apart thus releasing the levers e f which under the tension of their springs move to the full line position in Fig. 1 and throw off the clutches.

As shown in Fig. 7 I prefer to form the lower end s of the lever 7' with a hooked portion, which frictionally engages the upper end of the weight n and which extends below the thread indicated at .rin this figure By this means as the weight moves downwardly after the failure of the thread it will be certainly released from the hook p by the end .s' of the lever.

The foregoing description relates to the head A of the machine. The head A. might be furnished with a complete set of similar mechanism but for the sake of simplicity and economy I prefer to duplicate on the head A only those parts which are necessary for it, utilizing most of the mechanism described with reference to the head A. The head A is hence provided with a weight a3 (Figs. l and 7 which is operated in the same manner as the weight n and a lever 0 which normally stands in a position approaching the vertical with its lower end in the path of the weight. Upon descent of the latter the lever 0 is rocked past the vertical so that its heavier upper end falls to the left thereby giving it a relatively great movement. By means of a connecting rod p this movement is communicated to a shortrock-arm q which is adapted to support the opposite end of the rod. Referring to Fig. 7 it will be seen that the rod p is provided with a laterally extending member r3 which is hooked to engage the thread a. The result of this construction is that when the weight n3 of the head A falls the lever o is tilted, thereby moving the rod p' and by means of the. extension r pulling the thread a; off the hook of the weight -n and permitting the latter to drop, with the same effect as though the thread of the head A has broken.

My invention provides a certain novel construction of feeding mechanism which is of practical importance in connection with the present method of forming the handkerchief. At any suitable point on the machine I arrange a roll Z3 (Figs. 5, 6 and 8) on which the strip of fabric y to be stitched is wound. The fabric is ledl up over a vguide roller ma and from thence it is passed over a bed plate o5 arranged in front of the two presser feet of the machine heads. Such bed plate is preferably slanted toward the presser feet of the machine as shown in Fig. 6. On each side of the bed plate n.5 is arranged a guide 03 03 (Figs. 1, 6 and 8) which guide is shown in the form of a U'shaped plate, a part of which overlies the fabric. I prefer to provide a device for taking up the slack in the fabric when the latter is of greater width than the distance between the two machines. In the drawings I have shown a curved bar p3 for this purpose. Such bar is adjustably mounted upon an upright rod Q3 which itself slides upon a horizontal rod fr fixed to the machine table. By this means the guide p3 may be adjusted in various directions and serves to assist in the proper feeding of the cloth. In Fig. 8 the end of the bar p is carried to the rear of the presser feet. Any other suitable feeding means may be employed.

My invention also provides several means whereby the cloth may be wound up upon a roll (b2) at the rear of the machine, the winding operation being constant, notwithstanding the increasing thickness of the roll of fabric. To this end the roll b2 (Figs. 2 and 9) is rovided with reduced ends which fit in gui es c2 arranged at the rear of t-he machine. A rotating shaft d2 is arranged to bear against the bottom of the roll of fabric and this shaft is belted to a similar shaft el spaced somewhat apart from the first shaft. Either of the shafts may be. driven, as for instance d2, by a pulley f2 connected by a suitable belt to a large pulley g2 which is mounted directly upon the shaft d2. The shafts (l2 eZ-serve as rollers which operate against the roll of fabric and gradually rotate the same at a low rate of speed. As the fabric increases in thickness the roll b2 moves upwardly in its guide c2. As the shafts d2, e2 operate against the periphery of the roll of fabric the speed of take-up is maintained substantially constant.

In Fig. 9 I have shown the preferred means for winding up the fabric. In this ligure the fabric 1/ passes overa curved rod or spreader y and thence around a stationary rod or roll y" which is faced with rubber,- felt, plush or other suitable material. The fabric is then passed over a smaller stationary rod y, and thence onto the roll b2 which is driven in substantially the saine manner as in Fig. 2. The result of this construction is that no strain whatever is placed upon the fabric as it leaves the stitching mechanism. The fabric remains loose as indicated in Fig. 9 until it reaches a cert-ain point on the stationary roll v l. Between the rod y and the roll b2 the fi/ibric is under considerable tension which provides an evenly wound stretched roll of fabric. If necessary a suitable brake may be placed upon the roll b2 in ease the driving means tends to wind the latter too rapidly. y

The 1 machine herein described maymbe used in any suitable mannei. I preferfhbwever, to use it in connection with my im-V proved method of handkerchief iuanufacture. Various efforts have been made to improve the manufacture of handkereliiefs. Such efforts have not heretofore resulted in any great. economy. I have found in practice thatI the strip of fabric will pass throngli the machines, if the latter are properly constructed, practically automatically and without any attention on the. part of the operator. It is possible in connection with the machine herein shown to hein or lia'zmstitch the handkerchief strips or other articles almost entirely automatically. One operator can by the present invention operate a considerable number of machines, since practically the only manual work which is to be performed is that of rethreading the machines when the thread fails, and restartingr the machines.

In case that a hemstitehed handkerchief is required the heads will be provided with the usual hemstitehimr mechanism.

In Fig. 1 of the dnrawings the fabric is shown as havingl a preliminary fold before being fed into the machine, bu't this is not necessary since the machine willproperly fold and hem u flat strip with accuracy.

It is obvious that numerous changes may be made in the structure herein described. I prefer the present mechanism because it promptly stops both machines when there. is a failure of the thread in either machine. It is appa rent, however, that instead of stopping beth machines, the. opposite machine only may be stopped when there is a failure of the other machine. Under these circumstances tlie goods would merel)l feed along without stitching in the machine. in which the thread was iiroken. AS compared with the preferred form of my invention, however, this is disadvantagecus since it requires the pulling forward of the fabric before restarting the machines.

In the construction described I have illustrated means for stopping the feeding mech- -otherwiseconsiderable difficult anism for the cloth, the stitching mechanism and the sewing operation u on a breakage of the thread, it being pre erred to bring the entire machine to a state of rest. But any modification which permits of the automatic stopping of the sewing of the machinos is within the invention. It is also greatly preferred to bring all of the parts to a state of absolute rest, but the principal advantage of the invent-ion will be gained by reducing the speed of the machine'or machines in case of breakage to a point where their movements would not be material. It is very desirable that the sewint1r machines should be each capable of controcl independently of the other, and that independent manually operable means such as the hand levers shown, should be provided,

conveniently working the mac iines.

Any other changes in construction may be made without avoiding the invention.

It is also apparent that the device provided by my invention is adapted for use in sewing, hemming, or hemstitching articles other than handkerehiefs or handkerchief strips or blanks.

lVhat. I claim isz- 1. 'l`he eonibination of a plurality of in- Ydependently operable sewing mechanisms for' mal-:ing seams in a fabric, and means for automatically stopping the making of the seam on ene machine when a thread of another niechanism fails.

2. The combination of a plurality of independently operable sewing mechanisms for making seams in a fabric, means for manuallv controlling the independent operation o said mechanisms, and means for automatically stopping the makin" of the scam on one mechanism when a thread of another meehanisi'n fails.

53. The combination of two independently operable sewing mechanisms for making seams in a fabric. and means for stopping one mechanism when a thread of the opposite mechanism fails.

d. 'lhe combination of two independently operable sewingr mechanisms for making seams in a fabric, clutches for said mechanisius, adapted to be independently operated, and means for operating the clutch of one mechanism to stop it when a thread of the opposite mechanism fails.

The combination of two independently operable sewing mechanisms for making seams in a fabric, and means for automatically stopping the making of the seam on one mechanism when a spool thread of the opposite mechanism fails.

G. The combination of a plurality of independently operable sewing mechanisms for making seams in a fabric, and means for automatically stopping the making of each seam when a thread of one mechanism fails.

is found inw automatically stopping the makingT et' each i seam when a thread of one mechanism fails. 8. The combination of two independently operable Sewing machines for making seams ,cooperating with one of in a fabric, and means for automatically' stopping both machines when a thread of either machine fails.

t). The combination of two independently l operable sewing mechanisms for making seams in a fabric, clutches for said mechanisms adapted to be independently operated, and means for operating the clutches of both mechanisms when a thread of either mechanism fails.

10. The combination of two independi l l i i i l i l l t l l l i l l l i l ently operable sewing mechanisms for makinter seams in a fabric, and means for automatically stopping the making of both seams when the spool thread of either mechanism fails.

1l. The combination of means adapted to feed two sides ot' a strip of fabric, means for i independently controlling the operation of each siich means, stiteh-forn'iing mechanism said means, and mechanism for stopping the other of said l means when a thread of said stitch-forming mechanism fails.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two sub scribing witnesses.

MON T AGUE 'ADAIR Witnesses:

EUGENE V. MYERS, THOMAS F. WALLACE. 

